2001-02 WIAC  
Men's Ice Hockey
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 4 - 10
Ryan Kirchhoff, Freshman (Fairway, Kan./Bishop Miege), Forward of UW-Stevens Point
Kirchhoff extended his consecutive game scoring streak to 14 over the weekend, scoring two goals and adding an assist in helping the Pointers to a 4-4 tie with Superior and a 6-3 win over St. Scholastica (Minn.). He recorded an assist on the first goal of the game on Friday night against the Yellowjackets and then scored the game-tying goal in the third period at the 6:04 mark, just 20 seconds after Superior had taken the lead. On Saturday night, he opened up the scoring with his 12 goal of the season.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Nate Kotewa, Junior, Forward, Fairmont, Minn.
UW-Stout, Nathan Anderson, Freshman, Guard, Rosemount, Minn.
UW-Superior, Ryan Kalbrener, Junior, Forward, Grafton, North Dakota

Week of Jan. 28 - Feb. 3
Jacque Vezina, Junior (Hudson), Goalie of UW-River Falls
Vezina helped the Falcons win two games last weekend at Superior, 4-3, and at St. Scholastica (Minn.), 6-2. Against Superior, he made 40 saves, eight in the first period and 16 in both the second and third stanzas. Against St. Scholastica, he finished with 25 saves, six in the first, 11 in the second and eight in the third.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Scott Sutton, Junior, Goalie, Thunder Bay, Ontario (St. Patrick’s)
UW-Stevens Point, Zenon Kochan, Junior, Forward, Madison (St. Louis Park, Minn.)
UW-Stout, Charlie O’Hearn, Sophomore, Forward, Traverse City, Mich. (Central)
UW-Superior, Chris Hackett, Junior, Forward, Paradise, Newfoundland

Week of Jan. 21 - 27
Bob Gould, Senior (Eagle River/Northland Pines), Goalie of UW-Stevens Point
Gould made 57 saves in two games to lead the Pointers to two victories. He stopped 31 shots on Friday, as the Pointers knocked off seventh-ranked River Falls 4-2. On Saturday, Gould had to go into overtime to defeat Stout 4-3. He made 26 saves against the Blue Devils. Gould and the Pointers’ penalty-killing unit gave up just two goals in 11 opponents’ power play opportunities for the weekend.

Also nominated:
UW-Stout, Derek Nichols, Sophomore, Forward, Victoria, Minn. (Chaska)
UW-Superior, Rob Whidden, Freshman, Forward, Coquitlam, British Columbia

Week of Jan. 14 - 20
Jeff Dotson, Sophomore (Chanhassen, Minn.), Goalie of UW-Stout
Dotson played a key role in his team’s 2-1 overtime win over River Falls Friday, January 18 in Menomonie. He stopped 57 shots to help the Blue Devils to the win. The win was the first for the Blue Devils over the Falcons in 22 years. Dotson made 19 saves in the first period, 21 in the second, 15 in the third and two in overtime.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Jacque Vezina, Junior, Goalie, Hudson
UW-Stevens Point, Ryan Scott, Sophomore, Goalie, Plover (SPASH)
UW-Superior, Yann Poirier, Freshman, Forward, Quebec City, Quebec (Samuel DeChamplain)

Week of Jan. 7 - 13
Mitch Kellin, Sophomore (Cohasset, Minn/Grand Rapids), Forward of UW-Stout
Kellin scored four goals and three assists in Stout’s 8-4, 9-4 sweep of Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday and Saturday. He scored two goals in the third period of Friday night’s win and repeated the effort, only this time in the second period Saturday.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Jacque Vezina, Junior, Goalie, Hudson
UW-Stevens Point, Mike Brolsma, Freshman, Forward, Appleton (North)
UW-Superior, Yann Poirer, Freshman, Forward, Quebec City, Quebec (Samuel De Champlain)

Week of Dec. 31 - Jan. 6
Josh Liebenow, Junior (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Forward of UW-Superior
Liebenow scored the game-winning goal and added four assists for five points as Superior defeated Hamline (Minn.) 10-2 on Friday night. He leads the National Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) with 17 assists and ranks second in the league with 23 points on the season. The Yellowjackets are 11-3-1 this season and 3-1-1 in the NCHA.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Jamie Minor, Senior, Wing, Kenora, Ont. (Bravar Brae)
UW-Stevens Point, Ryan Kirchhoff, Freshman, Forward, Fairway, Kan. (Bishop Miege)
UW-Stout, Joe Berry, Senior, Forward, Apple Valley, Minn.

Week of Dec. 10 - 16
Rob Ouimette, Freshman (Iron Bridge, Ont.), Forward of UW-Eau Claire
Ouimette scored one goal with one assist in a 5-0 win over UM-Crookston Saturday and came back with a one goal, three assist performance in a 7-3 victory Sunday giving him two goals and four assists for the weekend. His goal Sunday proved to be the game winner. Both of his goals came on the power play as the Blugolds converted 8-of-18 power play opportunities. The sweep improved the Blugolds’ season record to 8-5-1. They have won four of their last five games.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Nate Kotewa, Junior, Forward, Fairmont, Minn.
UW-Stout, Nate Legler, Sophomore, Forward, Lakeville, Minn.
UW-Superior, Josh Liebenow, Junior, Forward, White Bear Lake, Minn.

Week of Dec. 3 - 9
Bob Gould, Senior (Eagle River/Northland Pines), Goalie of UW-Stevens Point
Gould turned in a 1-0 shutout victory over Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) on Saturday. He made 21 saves and moved into a tie for third place on the school’s all-time win list with 39 and second place on the all-time shutout list with the fifth of his career.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Ian Sgambelluri, Junior, Forward, Thunder Bay, Ont. (St. Patrick’s)
UW-River Falls, Josh Schlipp, Freshman, Forward, Chisago Lakes, Minn.
UW-Stout, Joe Berry, Senior, Forward, Apple Valley, Minn.
UW-Superior, Nathan Ziemski, Junior, Goalie, Duluth, Minn. (Central)

Week of Nov. 26 - Dec. 2
Colin Kendall, Junior (Calgary, Alberta/Bownel), Forward of UW-Superior
Kendall had one goal and three assists last weekend as Superior defeated Eau Claire 7-3 and Stevens Point 7-0 to improve to 7-2-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the WIAC.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Phil Cherneski, Freshman, Forward, Thompson, Manitoba
UW-Stevens Point, David Scott, Freshman, Defenseman, Moorhead, Minn.
UW-Stout, Nathan Legler, Sophomore, Forward, Lakeville, Minn.

Week of Nov. 12 - 18
Randall Smisko, Freshman (Powell River, B.C./Max Cameron), Forward of UW-Superior
Smisko had an outstanding week with five goals and five assists for ten points as the Yellowjackets went 3-0 on the week. On Saturday, he had a goal as Superior knocked off previously unbeaten St. Mary’s (Minn.) 5-1. On Sunday, he had a hat trick and an assist as the ‘Jackets stopped unbeaten St. Thomas (Minn.) 7-2. In a midweek win against Northland, he added a goal and four assists.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Jamie Minor, Senior, Forward, Kenora, Ontario
UW-River Falls, Jacque Vezina, Junior, Goalie, Hudson
UW-Stevens Point, Ryan Feil, Freshman, Forward, Orland Park, Ill. (Mt. Carmel)
UW-Stout, Ben Plester, Senior, Goalie, Chemainus, British Columbia (Cowichan)

Week of Nov. 5 - 11
Scott Sutton, Junior (Thunder Bay, Ontario), Goalie of UW-Eau Claire
Sutton posted the first shutout by a Blugold goalie in two years (55 games) with a 3-0 win over Lake Forest (Ill.). He personally kept the Blugolds in the contest against St. Norbert until the Knights scored a power play goal with just five minutes to go in the game. He made 70 saves in 72 shots (.972 saves percentage) for the weekend. Sutton owns a 1.47 goals against average for the season with a .954 saves percentage and a 2-1-1 record.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Rob Novak, Sophomore, Forward, Hayward
UW-Stevens Point, Mike Brolsman, Freshman, Forward, Appleton (North)
UW-Stout, Aaron Decker, Senior, Defenseman, Mound, Minn. (Westonka)
UW-Superior, Kyle Nosan, Sophomore, Center, Baudette, Minn. (Lake of the Woods)

Week of Oct. 29 - Nov. 4
Jacque Vezina, Junior (Hudson), Goalie of UW-River Falls
Vezina had two solid games for the Falcons as the team tied Eau Claire, 2-2, and beat Stevens Point 4-0. He picked up his shutout of the season, and the second of his career, in the win over the Pointers. He made 27 saves in the game. On Friday, he stopped 24 shots in the tie with the Blugolds. In the two games, he stopped 51-of-53 shots for a .962 saves percentage.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Scott Sutton, Junior, Goalie, Thunder Bay, Ontario
UW-Stevens Point, Nick Glander, Junior, Forward, Brookfield (Central)
UW-Stout, Tony Ross, Sophomore, Defenseman, Buffalo, Minn.

Week of Oct. 22 - 28
Kelly Kisell, Senior (Consul, Sask./Swift Current), Defenseman of UW-Stevens Point
Kisell netted the first goal of his career in a 5-2 victory over Elmira (NY) on Saturday night in Stevens Point. His goal broke a 1-1 tie and put the Pointers ahead for good. Kisell also led the Pointers’ penalty kill unit, which went a perfect 13-for-13 in the two games against Elmira.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Evan Stensrud, Junior, Forward, Minnetonka, Minn.
UW-Stout, Mitch Kellin, Sophomore, Forward, Cohasset, Minn. (Grand Rapids)

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